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Silverfield faculty attend international conference to foster school-university partnerships in the Netherlands

June 26, 2026Group of adults posing for a photo on steps outside a brick building with large windows.

Faculty and staff from the Silverfield College of Education and Human Services traveled to the Netherlands to participate at the international conference, "Let's Collab! Co-Creating the Future of Primary Teacher Education," from June 2-4, 2026, held at the VIAA University of Applied Sciences and Scope Partnering Schools.

During the visit, Dr. Steve Dittmore, Dean of the Silverfield College, was joined by Dr. Wendy Baker, Dr. Jamey Burns, Dr. Rachelle Curcio, Roshanda Jones and Dr. Shaundricka Medlock. Other attendees included educational leaders from Belgium, Spain and Malawi.

Although she did not travel, Dr. Diane Yendol-Hoppey's work was presented by her partner, Miranda Timmermans from the Marnix Academy of Applied Sciences, in the keynote for "Stop Schooling, Start Learning," which offered international and practice-based perspectives on partnership-driven teacher education.

The three-day conference featured inspiring keynote speakers, interactive workshops and ample opportunities to exchange knowledge and experiences. In addition, they also performed field visits with the ultimate goal being for faculty to return with fresh insights and new connections.

Sessions focused on key issues such as leadership in professional development schools, designing and implementing a workplace curriculum, the development and support of mentors, and shared ownership and governance in school-university partnerships. Different workshops utilized interactive formats and participants were encouraged to engage in active participation, dialogue and exchange.

The school visits to Scope partnering schools offered insight into partnership practices in real-life educational contexts. It presented opportunities to find answers to learning questions and connected the program to professional practice.

Building on this momentum, the collaboration will continue through the development of the Prep-Collaborative, an initiative that expands the original PREP partnership into a cross-institutional model of teaching, research and shared professional spaces between faculty, staff and students in the United States and the Netherlands.